A unique print showing nine pictures of a topless Marilyn Monroe is set to go under the hammer. The photos from her final ever shoot, just six weeks before she died, shows the star playing with a see-through scarf and pouts and poses like the model professional that she was. Photographer Ber t Stern's three-day session with the famous blonde was a return to form for the glamour queen after a few difficult years.

She clearly had some artistic control because after the shoot she crossed out one of the photos on the "contact sheet" because she didn't like it.

Stern published the photographs - titled 'The Last Sitting' - nearly 20 years after her death.

He later blew these images up for an exhibition because they beautifully summed up the movie star.

Monroe died aged 36 in 1962 and the photos from this session have helped define the image of her retained in the public conscience.

They are expected to sell for 15,000 pounds when they are auctioned at the Swann Gallery in New York on March 24.

"The photos were taken over a three day session just six weeks before she died. It was her final ever shoot," the Daily Mail quoted Daile Kaplan, from the auction house, as saying.

"Stern took 2,500 photos in all and these are especially nice because she is playing with a scarf.

"It was nearly two decades after her death that he published them and this contact sheet was blown up for an exhibition.

"It is unique and includes a red cross over one of the pictures that Marilyn did herself because she didn't like it - it is not as erotic as the rest.

"The photos discreetly reveal her nudity and showed how Stern engaged her as an actress, model and woman.

"Marilyn had had problems prior to this, she'd gone through two divorces and apparently was hospitalised the year before.

"This was a return to form and she looks healthy and the nudity is subtle - it is pre-sexual revolution.

"There is a delicacy about the images and Marilyn Monroe is often referred to as vulnerable.

"The scarf is similar because it is beautiful but also has a vulnerable quality. And the cross she put on one of the photos has a quasi-religious quality.

"She remains a cult figure and young collectors always come back to Marilyn Monroe," Kaplan added.

Rashida Jones has revealed she was in the running to play the lead in Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge! - until Nicole Kidman expressed interest in the musical role.

The TV star, who is the daughter of Quincy Jones, admits she auditioned for the role of Satine before producers decided to go for a bigger name.

And she wowed movie executives with a routine she worked out with her super-producer dad.

Jones tells Eonline.com, "You had to sing a song and I decided I wanted to sing and play a song. I wanted to play this arrangement of Somewhere from West Side Story that my dad had done for Aretha Franklin.

"So he taught me the whole arrangement on piano and helped me transpose it to the right key for my voice. It's one of my best memories."

And the tune could one day make it on to her own album.

She adds, "I have a lot of reverence-slash-fear about music because obviously I have a living legend as my father. Music breaks my heart constantly. I almost can't even talk about it I love it so much.

"I'm not sure that I'm ready to share that with the world... (but) at some point in my life, I want to lock myself away and make an album just for myself."

Black is the product of Hollywood company the Ark Music Factory, which charges parents a fee in return for the chance to turn their child into a star.

Rebecca herself is not amused by all the negative comments circulating onthe net. She confessed to The Daily Beast, "Those hurtful comments really shocked me. At times, it feels like I'm being cyberbullied."

Abbie Cornish - who stars the singer's new directorial effort 'W.E.', about the story of Britain's King Edward VIII and his American wife Wallis Simpson - confesses she was great to work with because she really "loves" learning and was "very well read".

She revealed: "Madonna is natural director. It's in her nature. She's a Leo and she really represents the Leos very well.

"She's a very smart woman, very well read. She really absorbs a lot about whatever she's involved in.

Madonna is natural director. It's in her nature. She's a Leo and she really represents the Leos very well.

"I think she really loves learning. It was interesting to see her evolve throughout the filmmaking process. She's such a cool woman."

Abbie, who plays Wally Winthrop in the two-tier story taking place over separate timelines, also reveals Madonna's 14-year-old daughter Lourdes portrays a younger version of her character in the movie.

She added to MTV.com: "She actually plays a younger version of my character. She's a super-cute, younger version of my character."

Music producer William Orbit - who has provided two songs for the score of the movie - recently claimed the movie was Oscar-worthy and could see Madonna land a nomination for Best Director at the Academy Awards next year.

He said: "It's definitely Oscar-worthy and I'm not just saying that. I wouldn't comment on her past acting abilities so you know by me saying what I have that it's really a great film. I definitely think Madonna could be up for an Oscar for Best Director."

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